A Sermon preached by The Rev. Deborah Brown, Presiding Youth Missioner, Diocese of Rochester at Church of the Ascension, on Sunday, February 27, 2011
Our world today is dangerous. Modern technology, a globalized economy, easy communication, massive migration, and youth violence, especially in Rochester, now spread the effects of crises in one part of the world to other parts very quickly. Everyone is affected in some form or another. How can we not be anxious?
The Church still struggles with race, gender, and human sexuality. However, we may not be where we want to be, but thank God we have moved a little further ahead. As the Church continues to struggle over these issues, youth, who are the future and the hope for a beloved community, are dropping like flies into penal systems and the grave. Rochester is ranked 11th in the country for child poverty. Drug dealers are using 11-14 year olds to sell drugs and carrying guns. Street crime is up. How can we not worry about our life?
Many music videos convey messages that bling, violence, a 40 ounce, a blunt, and dressing like a thug or provocatively are ways of life. Some young girls think it is appropriate to allow boys call them nasty and derogatory names because “he loves me, and he is my baby’s daddy.” Some young girls are dressing in ways that, if my grandmother had seen them, she would have had a fit. Modern technology has produced educational computer software, yet our youth spend hours playing with avatars online, and playing the gambling game Texas Hold’em. Others are chatting unknowingly to sexual predators online in chat rooms, and arranging to meet them. And there are youth who are bullied, and for them, the only way out is suicide. Have we stood back and said that that today’s youth problems and anyone out side of these red doors, are characteristic of a particular culture, social status, or race? Or have we begun to figure out ways that as a community, we might begin dialogues within the faith community and the local community to help those that have difficulty helping themselves. Or are we only concerned about our safety, wellbeing, and fortune?
In our gospel text, Jesus tells us not to worry about anything. Don’t worry about what you are going wear, what you are going to eat because he is taking care of the birds of the airs, and the flowers of the fields. Therefore, he cares for us. It is comforting to know that God will provide for us, and sometimes we might have to go without in many circumstances. Birds of the air die, flowers of the field wither away, people are going hungry, people are still oppressed and depressed, and we like the flowers die. Well, that sounds very comforting if you have money in the bank, your house and car is paid for, you are retired with a good pension, or assured of having a job in the next six months. But what about those folks who are homeless, no clothes, food, jobs, no money? Sometimes just saying to a homeless person, “I’m praying for you” is not enough. They need help. I am sure that they are worried about where the next meal is coming from, where are they going to get money to buy formula and Pampers, how are they going to give their children money for school lunch when gas prices are getting close to $4.00 a gallon. It isn’t easy to say “I’m not worried,” when you are looking at a disconnection notice from RG&E or the doctor says I need to see you because there is a shadow on your x-ray.
In this day of individualism, the focus is still on how to keep up with the Jones, instead of asking how the Jones are doing. We get caught up in I get mine, and you get yours that we forget that we were put here on earth to love and serve one another as the Church, and as the Church we are suppose to take this same love to the streets and take care of the people outside these red doors. I believe Christ is calling us into accountability for each other in our times of anxiety, stress, and pressure. I often wonder why our anxiety, and fear of lack hinders us from reaching out into the community and reaching those who are lost which might mean sacrificing our personal desires and needs to help another person.
This is the last Sunday in Black History month. It is a time to reflect on the history and legacies of the great cloud of African-American witnesses who have gone before us, and fought for justice for all people. They endured the emotional, physical, and psychological abuses of segregation and rebelled against Jim Crow laws so that others might taste freedom and experience justice. It was their love and selflessness made it possible for me to stand here today in this pulpit as the first African-American priest ordained in the Diocese of Rochester.
When I read this text, I thought about The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. vision of the Beloved Community. Where is the beloved community that Dr. King? A world where there is love, adoration and respect for all people, including children and youth. His beloved community was a community in which the basic needs of every person-healthcare, meaningful and gainful employment, and education that includes the historically left-out stories—are met before the individual are allowed to accumulate massive amounts of wealth-wealth that is frequently amassed at the expense of human beings and non-human life forms and the environment. We should be anxious when our sisters and brothers in the community are broken and hurt, we should be anxious when their basic needs are not met. We should be worried that another black child got shot down, even though your grandchildren are doing just fine. It is too easy to sit back and say God will take care of it or it is not my problem. It is our problem because we are God’s ears, eyes, hands, and feet. We have been called to go out into the community and build relationships and partnerships with people, who for some reason, we fear, and we have been called by God to make a difference by creating transformative programs within the church that meet the needs of those in the community! We can’t wait for tomorrow because tomorrow has enough problems of its own. We have to work on today’s problems that might create a better tomorrow.
In President Obama’s speech to the people in Arizona, he stated that “he believes we can be better…we may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but he knows that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. He believes that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us.” As members of the body of Christ, we are united through our humanity and our baptism. The baptismal vows remind us that we are responsible for every human being, and must respect the integrity and dignity of every human being. We need to worry about our brothers and sisters in the streets. The entire body of Christ must strive to work within the local community and within government to build a beloved community. The church, this church, that is located in the middle of a community in crises needs help, has the potential of being the plumb line of justice, the mortar of love, and can demonstrate the love of the chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ, who provides a solid foundation.
We, the church, did not come this far by faith alone. It took concern for one another, discernment, tenacity, wisdom, collaboration, determination, and imagination. When we work as a community—old, young, black, white, blue, yellow, green, short or tall--and move by the resurrection power of Jesus Christ, Dr. King’s dream of the beloved community will become a reality. AMEN
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